The Brawl at The Palace

YahooSports.com has an article that looks into the Indiana Pacers and what has happened since the brawl in Detroit in 2004 with the Pistons and their fans. Click Here for the article by Peter May.

I remember watching this game live. I turned to it very late. Literally as Ron Artest committed a stupid foul on Ben Wallace. Needlessly hitting him in the afro-covered-head. I actually remember saying “that was stupid, you’re up by fifteen (points)” to no-one in the room.

When Wallace went at Artest, I was not surprised by his reaction or did I feel that he was completely out of line. I would have been pissed. Look at it from Wallace’s position. You’re down fifteen, there are 45 seconds left in the game, you have been embarrassed by the Pacers, and now you have to shoot two meaningless free throws which is not your strong suit and you’ll probably miss. I may not have pushed Artest – he is much bigger than I am – but I would have said something. “What the @#%& is your problem” comes to mind.

I will not go any further into it, we all know what happened. The whole thing was ugly and disgraceful, but I remember it. I remember thinking that I could not believe it was happening and that I actually got to see it, I was stunned.